1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a continuous electrolytic ion water producing apparatus which electrolyzes water such as city water to continuously produce alkali ion water and acid ion water, and more particularly to a controlling apparatus for a continuous electrolytic ion water producing apparatus of the type mentioned which performs determination and indication of energization and an electrolyzing capacity of an electrolytic cell, determination and indication of a life of a filter cartridge provided for removing residual chlorine from water and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
A continuous electrolytic ion water producing apparatus which applies a dc voltage between a pair of positive and negative electrodes in drinking water such as city water to electrolyze the drinking water to directly produce alkali ion water and acid ion water is already known. Alkali ion water is used to improve the acid condition resulting from modern eating habits depending upon meat and thereby promotes health while acid ion water is used to wash the surface of the human body and for make-up.
A conventional electrolytic ion water producing apparatus of the type mentioned is generally constructed such that, when water flows therethrough, a pressure switch detect whether or not water flows at more than a predetermined reference flow rate, and when water flows at more than the reference flow rate, an electrolytic cell is energized automatically to produce ion water. The electrolyzing capacity of the electrolytic cell increases as the flow rate decreases, and the hydrogen ion exponent (pH) of electrolytic ion water produced depends much upon the flow rate and so forth. Therefore, a range change-over switch for changing over the electrolyzing strength is provided such that a user operates, visually estimating a flow rate of ion water flowing into a glass, the range change-over switch to regulate the electrolyzing capacity. Further, while a filter cartridge for removing residual chlorine contained in city water is attached to an inlet pipe, the time of exchange of the filter cartridge, i.e. expiration of its useful life, is normally determined from the cumulative water passing time water passes through the filter cartridge.
With the conventional electrolytic ion water producing apparatus, however, a pressure switch is employed to detect a flow of water, and the pressure switch sometimes does not operate regularly in a region in which the pressure of city water is comparatively low or when a pipe line is partially damaged. Particularly in case the outlet port for ion water is choked, the electrolytic cell may be energized in error while water does not flow. Meanwhile, as regards regularization of the electrolyzing capacity, since measurement of the flow rate relies upon the sixth sense of a user, changing over of the range of the electrolyzing strength cannot be performed accurately, and when the quality of water changes and the change of the quality of water has an influence on the electrolyzing capacity, it is almost impossible to regularize the electrolyzing capacity. Further, since the determination of life of the filter cartridge depends upon the cumulative time for water passing a there through, differences may arise between the cumulative quantity of water actually used and the capacity of the filter due to differences in water flow among various homes, that is, from the difference in flow rate per unit time. Consequently, it is not possible to determine service life accurately in any case. Accordingly, a need exists to effectively solve the problems of the conventional electrolytic ion water producing apparatus described above.
A solution to the problems is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Application No. 1-163494. According to the proposed solution, an electrolytic current supplied to an electrolytic cell is detected, and the magnitude of the electrolytic current is controlled so as to coincide with a value of a current set by selective operation of an electrolyzing strength adjusting switch.
With the proposed solution, however, since an electrolytic current is controlled in response to selection of the electrolyzing strength adjusting switch, such control is not available as to regularize the electrolyzing capacity in various conditions of use or to precisely determine and indicate life of a filter cartridge.